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How Kickstarter hopeful Republique got funded at the last second and why it very nearly wasn’t.

A few days ago, stealth iOS title République successfully completed its Kickstarter. This was really impressive news given that as the campaign drew to a close, the game would be tasked with raising over 200,000 dollars in four days. Not an easy feat, yet they still managed to accomplsh it. Wired recently featured a timeline tracking the kickstarter’s progress and creator Ryan Payton’s outlook throughout.

As the article’s writer Ryan Rigney recounts:

With no new announcements to make or content to release, Camouflaj gave fans the tools they needed to spread the word themselves. It launched the #KeepHopeAlive Twitter campaign (“Hope” being the name of the game’s main character), releasing downloadable Twitter profile pictures that looked like something from a grassroots political movement. The thinking was that if Camouflaj could get enough people talking about the game and its Kickstarter campaign, the message could spread virally.

The hash tag, along with voice talents David Hayter and Jennifer Hale ,contributed strongly to the campaign but even they didn’t seal the deal. With all of the talent involved in the project, it’s somewhat hard to see why they couldn’t manage to collect the money needed.

After Double Fine’s massive success, Kickstarter was seen as a great place to fund games whether they were new IPs or long forgotten franchises. Now, as République and Camouflaj have shown, it’s obvious that it’s not as easy as posting a number and raking in cash. The projects posted need to be things that people care about but also things that they can make others care about.